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cyan · cool

#80ada2

a balanced, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Cadet Blue

Token name suggestion: Signal Glacier

RGB
128, 173, 162
HSL
165°, 22%, 59%
CMYK
26, 0, 6, 32
Luminance
0.3708

#80ada2 is a balanced soft cyan, 165° on the wheel and 69/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.42:1). As text it scores 2.49:1 on white — use #527F74 instead. Nearest name is Cadet Blue, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(165 22% 59%)rgb(128 173 162)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #80ada2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#80ada2
Hue
165°
cyan
Saturation
22%
soft
Lightness
59%
balanced
Brightness
68%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3708
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
69/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.42:1
Closest name
Cadet Blue
ΔE2000 7.9
Chroma
17.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.712
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 11
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue165° of 360°
Saturation22%
Lightness59%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #80ada2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool69% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red12%
Green81%
Blue7%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#80ada2
HEX (8-digit)#80ada2ff
RGBrgb(128, 173, 162)
RGBArgba(128, 173, 162, 1)
HSLhsl(165, 22%, 59%)
HSV / HSBhsv(165, 26%, 68%)
HWBhwb(165 50% 32%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 0%, 6%, 32%)
LABlab(67.3 -17.4 0.8)
LCHlch(67.3 17.4 177.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.712 0.051 178.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.37, 37.08, 39.73)
Decimal8433058
Display P3color(display-p3 0.502 0.678 0.635)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #80ada2;
background-color: #80ada2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #80ada2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#80ada2] bg-[#80ada2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #80ada2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.502, green: 0.678, blue: 0.635)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.502, green: 0.678, blue: 0.635, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#80ADA2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF80ADA2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF80ADA2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(162, 173, 128)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(128, 173, 162)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(128, 173, 162)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 128, 173, 162)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5020f, 0.6784f, 0.6353f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{128,173,162}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #80ada2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #80ada2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#324D47, #DAE7E4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #80ada2 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F9F8;
  --brand-100: #EDF2F1;
  --brand-200: #D8E4E1;
  --brand-300: #BBD3CD;
  --brand-400: #99BDB4;
  --brand-500: #80ada2;
  --brand-600: #609588;
  --brand-700: #507C71;
  --brand-800: #40635B;
  --brand-900: #314943;
  --brand-950: #1F2E2A;
  --brand: #80ada2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F9F8;
  --brand-border: #CDDFDB;
  --brand-hover: #6A9F92;
  --brand-pressed: #5A8B7F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #16221F;
    --brand-ink: #DAE7E4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F9F8',
        100: '#EDF2F1',
        200: '#D8E4E1',
        300: '#BBD3CD',
        400: '#99BDB4',
        500: '#80ada2',
        600: '#609588',
        700: '#507C71',
        800: '#40635B',
        900: '#314943',
        950: '#1F2E2A',
        DEFAULT: '#80ada2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F9F8,
  '100': #EDF2F1,
  '200': #D8E4E1,
  '300': #BBD3CD,
  '400': #99BDB4,
  '500': #80ada2,
  '600': #609588,
  '700': #507C71,
  '800': #40635B,
  '900': #314943,
  '950': #1F2E2A,
);
$brand-base: #80ada2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F9F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF2F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D8E4E1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BBD3CD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#99BDB4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#80ada2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#609588", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#507C71", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#40635B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#314943", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F2E2A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #80ada2 · 8.42:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.49:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.42:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #80ada2 as text scores 2.49:1 on white and 8.42:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #324D47 at 3.68:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#527F74 · 4.52:1
AA on white−18% L
#527F74
The quick fox
#3C5D55 · 7.27:1
AAA on white−29% L
#3C5D55
The quick fox
#80ada2 · 8.42:1
AA on blackalready passes
#80ada2
The quick fox
#80ada2 · 8.42:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#80ada2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6A9F92 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#80ada2 on white: 2.49:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#80ada2 on black: 8.42:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #80ada2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #80ada2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.49:1AaAa
Slate 502.38:1AaAa
Slate 1002.28:1AaAa
Slate 2002.02:1AaAa
Slate 3001.68:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.91:1AaAa
Slate 6003.04:1AaAa
Slate 7004.15:1AaAa
Slate 8005.86:1AaAa
Slate 9007.16:1AaAa
Black8.42:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A9A8A2
deuteranopia · #A1A1A3
tritanopia · #74AEAA

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #80ada2 is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F9F8
#EDF2F1
#D8E4E1
#BBD3CD
#99BDB4
#80ada2
#609588
#507C71
#40635B
#314943
#1F2E2A
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F6F9F8Darkest = 950 · #1F2E2AText step on white = 700
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.013 178.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.020 178.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.031 178.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.040 178.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.047 178.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.051 178.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.051 178.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.048 178.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.043 178.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.036 178.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.028 178.0);
}

Colors that work with #80ada2

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F6F9F8
Tinted page background
Border#CDDFDB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5A8B7F
Captions on the surface
Accent#B17C96
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#324D47
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F5F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#16221F
Dark-mode background
Hover#6A9F92
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5A8B7F
Two steps down
Disabled#C4D9D4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#83BEB0
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #80ada2

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #324D47
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6A9F92

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight41/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#AD808B
Analogous left#80AD8B
Analogous right#80A1AD
Split-complement 1#AD80A1
Split-complement 2#AD8B80
Triadic 1#A280AD
Triadic 2#ADA280
Tetradic#8B80AD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°165°

#80ada2 sits at 165°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red50.2%
Green67.8%
Blue63.5%
R · 0–255
128
0x80
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
162
0xa2

CMYK percentages

Cyan26.0%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow6.4%
Key (black)32.2%

Total ink coverage is 65%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#80ada2 text on a black background

contrast 8.42:1

Card sample

#80ada2 text on a white background

contrast 2.49:1

Card sample

#80ada2 on grey

2.28:1

#80ada2 on its own surface

2.36:1

#80ada2 on its dark surface

6.56:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #80ada2;
Background color
Panel with #80ada2 background
background-color: #80ada2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #80ada2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(128, 173, 162, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(128, 173, 162, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #80ada2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #80ada2, #809AAD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #80ada2, #808FAD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #80ada2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #80ada2;
caret-color: #80ada2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #80ada2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F5F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #80ada2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#80ada2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #80ada2 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(128, 173, 162, 0.5)
rgb(128 173 162 / 50%)
#80ada280
hsl(165 22% 59% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #80ada2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#80ada21a#F2F7F6
20%#80ada233#E6EFEC
40%#80ada266#CCDEDA
60%#80ada299#B3CEC7
80%#80ada2cc#99BDB5

Gradients from #80ada2

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #A5C5BD, #80ada2 45%, #324D47);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #80ada2, #6D87A1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #80ada2, #AD808B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B8D1CB 0%, #80ada2 45%, #324D47 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F9F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9FC1A5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #93ACB9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #324D47 0%, transparent 65%), #80ada2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #80ada2

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#80ada2 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 8.42:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#80ada2, answered

What color is #80ada2?

#80ada2 is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Cadet Blue (ΔE2000 7.9). It sits at 165° on the hue wheel with 22% saturation and 59% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #80ada2?

rgb(128, 173, 162) — 128 red, 173 green and 162 blue out of 255, or 50.2% / 67.8% / 63.5% by channel.

What is #80ada2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(165, 22%, 59%) and hsv(165, 26%, 68%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #80ada2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3708 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 8.42:1.

Should I use black or white text on #80ada2?

Black. It scores 8.42:1 against #80ada2, versus 2.49:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #80ada2 accessible on a white background?

#80ada2 on white scores 2.49:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #527F74 to reach 4.5:1, or #3C5D55 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #80ada2?

#AD808B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AD80A1 and #AD8B80, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #80ada2?

For interface work: #F6F9F8 as the surface, #CDDFDB for borders, #5A8B7F for secondary text, #B17C96 as an accent and #324D47 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #80AD8B and #80A1AD stays calm, while #AD808B is the loudest partner.

What is #80ada2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 0%, 6%, 32%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #80ada2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 69 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #80AD91; nudged cooler, #7EA9AF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #80ada2?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 11 away. That is a visible difference, so define #80ada2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #80ada2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#80ada2] or text-[#80ada2], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #80ada2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(128, 173, 162, 0.5), or #80ada280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C0D6D1; over black, #405751.

Is #80ada2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 16.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #80ada2 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #80ada2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A5C5BD, #80ada2 45%, #324D47). For more colour, a short hue run to #6D87A1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #80ada2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #80ada2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.